Who Can Decide What They Dream?
by Chii1
Summary: o_o A story I totally changed. ^^ Same intro, totally different plot. The Kenshin Gumi help a young girl with a memory through a series of events, with Sanosuke leading the effort. OC/Sano - Rating for language and events later.
1. She's Impossible

Disclaimer: . I do not own this.. stuff. O_O It is NOT mine, although if it was mine, I'd really.. not have any reason to write fanfiction about it. :D Ayu is mine. Anything you do not recognize from the show is mine. @_@ This is my first. Review, do it NOW. ^-^ Please. o_o I'm not exactly familiar with the culture during this time, but . let us.. overlook that. ^_^ 

About this chapter: :D The glorious introduction. Not very eventful. It gets far better the next chapter. ^__^ I just had to show you everyone, here.

CHAPTER ONE :: SHE'S IMPOSSIBLE

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      "Ayu, you know quite well I want nothing but what is in your best interest. I know it's very hard for you to understand, but you must-"

      "I know precisely how to take care of myself." A harsh female voice interrupted that of the kinder man's. "I have yet to see a single reason to force me to go to this.. this.. wherever it is! With a great uncle I do not even know! I'm fifteen years old, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, this is an ABSOL-"  

      "Ayuka! Stop this at once! You should be thankful you do NOT have to provide for yourself. When I was fifteen-"

      "You were completely independent, relying on your parents for only shelter, making your own meals, I know, I've heard the story many times.. Father."           

      The man sighed and rubbed his temples impatiently. 

      "You're impossible."

      "I take it after you," Ayuka huffed, turning her head and abruptly sticking her nose into the air, sending her light brown hair into the air, just dark enough to be brown and not blond, flying into the air, only to settle upon the shoulders of her delicately decorated kimono. Which she hated, quite passionately. 

      "You took it after your mother," The man replied, smiling a somewhat sad smile.

      Ayuka's eyes sparkled. 

      "Truly?" she asked.

      Senkurou, the man (and father) nodded.

      "Katsuki was just like you. Stubborn, clever, absolutely oblivious, and a complete heartbreaker." He smirked.

      Ayu snorted.

      "Attractive." 

      She glared at him.

      "No need to be attractive. Who needs men? Bah, I do just fine on my own. I can take perfect care of myself, defend myself. Don't need one."

      Senkurou shook his head.

      "I'll remind you of those words on your wedding day."

      "No need to, as I'll never have one." 

      With that, the girl affectionately known as Ayu, spun on her heel and headed to her bedroom.

      "Fine! I'll get my things together." She shouted. "But you had better not be gone for any longer than a month! I'm not at all pleased with this arrangement.." Along with some other shouting that was stifled by the sliding shut of the door as Senkurou walked outside, muttering to himself about "disrespectful teenagers".

      Ayuka peered around her room, searching for anything she might've needed to pack. She spotted a small silver chain necklace lying near her bed, and nearly thumped herself. The chain had a tiny diamond attached. Nothing fancy, but it meant a lot to her. Her mother had been wearing it when she died, due to "disease", or at least, that's what she'd always been told. She did not question it. Death was a part of life during her childhood. Carefully placing the necklace around her neck, she grabbed her things and headed outside to her father.

      "Got everything?" Senkurou asked.

      Ayuka nodded.

      "Alright then, up you go." He attempted to hoist her into the carriage, but she gave him the "look" that said to back off, she could handle this herself. He shrugged and shook his head. Ridiculously stubborn.

      During the trip to who-knows-where, Ayu stared sadly out the window. This was not one of the normal trips her father usually took. She could tell by the tone of his voice. The rush he was in to get her to her "great uncle", assuming he WAS even related to her.. What was his name? Oh, yes. Some doctor.. Genzai? She shrugged mentally. Everything would fall into place. Always does.

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Ooh, ah. Next chapter: Hella longer. O__O; Developing relationships, etc! :D Yay.


	2. I Remember You

Disclaimer: :D It's NOT mine. I swear. If Sano WAS mine, I would not need to write about him, as - O_O; *cough* The things you do not recognize are mine.

This Chapter: ^_^ Developing relationships, and a glimpse of the past.

CHAPTER TWO :: I REMEMBER YOU

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      "Who IS THAT?!" 

      Ayuka jumped as a female voice pierced the silence that had been the walk around the hospital with Doctor Genzai. Excluding, of course, the two granddaughters, who had skipped merrily alongside the two, flashing Ayuka amazed glances.

      "This, Megumi, is my great niece. Ayuka."

      Megumi eyed the young girl. 'She doesn't look capable of doing much work. She's filthy, too.'

      "It's uhm.. a pleasure to meet you, Miss Megumi," said Ayuka, with a small bow.

      Megumi paused. 'Meh. She's not that bad. I've been needing some help around here, anyhow.' She smiled.

      "Likewise," Megumi said, peering at the girl. "Do you have any experience dealing with medical situations?"

      Aykua blinked. "Er, some." Megumi's face fell. "But.. I'm a really fast learner! And I DO know how to do simple tasks." 

      Megumi nodded, showing her acceptance. "Good. We could certainly use a hand around here.. I'll take you to my room. We'll be sharing it for a bit, the hospital is over-crowded right now.. we need all the room we can get."

      Ayuka nodded, suddenly feeling like a huge bother.

      Following Megumi down various hallways, Ayuka glanced into a few of the rooms, barely restraining a gasp when she realized most of the patients were children. Young children, at that. 

      Megumi glimpsed at Ayuka, noticing her shocked face.

      "There's something going around. We're not sure what it is, but the symptoms include difficulty breathing, constant nausea, headaches.. it seems they're in a lot of pain. They don't sleep well. We can't keep any food down them, either." She sighed. "Ever heard of anything like it?"

      Ayuka paused. "Actually.. there was something like that back where I live." She shrugged. "The doctor in the town just made them drink a lot of water, and insisted on rest.. He didn't try to get them to eat anything."

      Megumi stared. "That's what we are doing, but how do you know that?"

      "My father was the doctor."

      "..."

      *THWACK!*

      Ayuka stared, rubbing the top of her head where Megumi and thumped her. "Ow?!"

      "You're the DAUGHTER of a DOCTOR, and you DON'T HAVE ANY MEDICAL EXPERIENCE!?"

      "I have SOME experience, I just didn't enjoy it!"

      Megumi fell over.

      Ayuka frowned.

      "I'll bet you're completely spoiled, aren't you?"     

      "No! I am not!" Ayuka bristled.

      "Are too."

      "..No, I'm NOT!"

      "You're acting like it." Megumi smirked. 

      "I wonder why!" Retorted Ayu. 

      "Because you.. you.." Megumi stopped in mid-laughter. "Ohoho!" 

      "..What's SO FUN-.. funny.." Ayuka started giggling as well. "Why are you laugh.. laughing!?"

      "I can't believe we're acting so childish! Oh.. it's been a long day, I do need some sleep." Megumi smiled. "I'll show you to the baths. You look awful." She smirked.

      Ayuka glared at her. "You would too after sitting in a carriage all the way here."

      Megumi nodded, and leading Ayuka through the halls and pausing to walk in a room, and bring out a large bundle of cloth.

      Ayuka blinked. "What are those?"

      "What you'll be sleeping in, and clothes for tomorrow."

      "Er.. I have clothes."

      Megumi nodded. "Well, yes, but I doubt you'd want them to get dirty. And around here, they're certainly going to get dirty."

      "Ah." Ayuka said. "Thanks." She glanced down the hallway and pointed to a room. "There, right?"

      "Mmhm." Megumi said. "We passed my room. There's a futon set up for you."

      "Right." Ayuka said, walking into the baths. "I'll be there in a bit."

      Megumi walked back to her room. 'She isn't bad, not at all. It's definitely good to have someone decent to talk to. And to work until they fall over.. maybe not.' She smiled to herself, laying down to sleep.

      Ayuka leaned back in the water (which is, uh, -magically- heated. O_o;;), resting her head against the side of the wood and closing her eyes.

      _-FLASHBACK- (A rather long one.)*[1] It's not all in italics, because all italics annoys the heck out of me._

      The road was long. It was dark. Ayuka was getting extremely tired of sitting and riding in the carriage. She wanted to sleep. She wanted her teddy bear. She wanted to lay down, she was REALLY getting annoyed a- What the heck was that?

      "Dad! Daddy, tell them to stop!"

      The carriage came to a halt.

      "What, what is it Ayu?" Senkurou blinked. 

      The person driving the carriage peered around at the two. 

      "Look!" The little girl, a much younger Ayuka of around 6, pointed to the side of the road, where a little heap was laying, wearing white. At least, it looked white. It was caked with dirt and goodness knows what that darker brownish red was. 

      "Oh my God.. Ayuka, sit here."

      "Daaad-"

      "I mean it!" A much younger than present Senkurou jumped out of the carriage, running over to the side of the road.

      A little boy laid there, brown, unruly hair spiking out from the head of a young boy, wearing white clothing. His hair was held out of his face with something red. It was obvious he wasn't in good shape. Senkurou frowned, picking the body up and bringing him into the carriage with Ayuka.

      Ayuka stared in wonder.

      "Daddy.. who is it..?"

      "I don't know, but he isn't in good shape. We're going to take him back to the town we passed a little while ago."

      Ayuka whined. "Daaddyy.. I'm tired.."

      "We'll find an inn and stay there for the night."

      "Ok!" Ayuka piped up. 

      "I'm going to go talk with the driver for a while, if he starts acting differently, yell at me, ok?"

      Ayuka nodded. She wasn't really old enough to understand the significance of the boy's condition. 

      "Ungh.."

      Ayuka squeaked in fright, staring at the now moving figure. "Daaad.. Dad he's moving and making noise.."

      "He'll probably move around a little. Don't worry."

      She felt the carriage turn, and head back the way they had been coming at a rather faster pace than what they had been going.

      Ayuka stared wide-eyed at the boy, who was lying on his back on the opposite side of the carriage. He shivered. Ayuka blinked. "A-are you.. cold?"

      Obviously, the boy couldn't reply.

      "Uh.. uhm.. Dad!"

      "What, Ayuka, what?"

      "I think he's cold."

      The carriage stopped, and Senkurou opened the door to the carriage, handing her a bundle of dark cloth. "Cover him up with that."

      "O-ok." Ayuka said, as the door closed.

      After covering the boy up, Ayuka sat and stared at him, her legs tucked in to her chest. 

      ~

      They had taken the boy to a hospital, checked into an inn, and left the next morning. Senkurou had stopped by the hospital to check on his condition. The boy was going to live, and it was quite likely thanks to Ayuka's sharp eye. They never saw the boy again. The boy never knew who found him.

_-END FLASHBACK- (End very LONG flashback.)_

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      A little while down the road from where Ayuka was basking in the water while pondering long forgotten memories, a restless Sanosuke sat up in bed, deciding to go for a walk to calm his nerves. He had been plagued by the same dream many nights in a row.

      He remembered the day the Seikhou Tai *[2] had been slaughtered. He remembered them taking the bullets for him. He remembered Sagara pushing him out of danger, over the ledge, giving Sanosuke a chance at life. He had crawled, in pain, trying to find some civilization for hours, until coming upon a road. He had figured if someone found him, he would live. If no one found him, he would die. 

      Someone found Sagara Sanosuke that day. He hadn't known who. He barely remembered glimpses of their faces. He'd never spoken with them.

      "Wonder who she was..." Sano muttered to himself, kicking a rock absently. 

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      Back at the dojo, Ayuka promptly sneezed. 

      "Hm.." Ayuka rubbed her nose, pondering the boy she had saved so long ago. Lately, Ayuka had been recalling that night more often. "Maybe it's a sign.." She muttered. "I'm supposed to find him or whatever." She snorted. "Yeah, right."

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      "Ha.. hachoo!" Sano glared angrily around him. "Damn flowers." He frowned, turned, and headed back to the dojo. 

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**NOTES**

[1] :D Episode Five of Kenshin, sillies. You remember how Sano was saved by Sagara, etc.? Well, if you don't, I explain it anyway. ^_^;

[2] That was who Sano stayed with. ;-; And were slaughtered. But Sano lived!

Next Chapter: Sano is STILL a freaking restless moron who loves to get in fights.

Sano: ..I am not. That's completely uncalled for.

Chii: ..Yes you are. O_o

Sano: I don't have allergies, either.

Chii: *growls* Shut UP.

Sano: Ok. ^__^!

Chii: ...


End file.
